Method of space-treating fibers with reagents to change the dye affinity of the fibers

ABSTRACT

A method of space-treating fibers with reagents to change the dye affinity of the fibers including forming the fibers in a flat web or webs, treating the web or webs with the reagents and unraveling the flat web or webs to separate the treated fibers such that the treated fibers may be formed into web goods and dyed to have various colors and patterns.

United States Patent Inventors Jurgen Martin Adolff Backnang; Egbert Heintschel-Heinegg, Berlin; Winfried Loskant, Backnang, all of, Germany App1.No. 791,609

Filed Jan. 16, 1969 Patented Sept. 7, 1971 Assignee J. F. Adollf Aktiengesellschaft Backnang, Wurttenberg, Germany METHOD OF SPACE-TREATING FIBERS WITH REAGENTS TO CHANGE THE DYE AFFINITY OF THE FIBERS 10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 28/74 R, 28/72.16 Int. Cl ..I)04b 19/00. D06q l/02 Field of Search 28/72.16,

74, 75,75 WT, 75 R; 101/172 Primary Examiner-Robert R. Mackey Attarney-Christen & Sabol ABSTRACT: A method of space-treating fibers with reagents to change the dye affinity of the fibers including forming the fibers in a flat web or webs, treating the web or webs with the reagents and unraveling the flat web or webs to separate the treated fibers such that the treated fibers may be formed into web goods and dyed to have various colors and patterns.

Forming into a Web Fibers the Web Space reating Reagents with Unraveling the Web Producing a final textile product from the space treated fibers Dyeing the final textile product PATENTEU SEP 7 I971 sum 1 or 2 PATENTEBSEP H97! 3.602.968

SHEET a nr 2 Forming Fibers into a Web Space Treating the Web with Reagents Unraveling the Web Producing a final textile product from the space treated fibers Dyeing the final textile product Fig. 5

METHOD OF SPACE-TREATING FIBERS WITH REAGENTS TO CHANGE THE DYE AFFINITY OF THE FIBERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention pertains to methods for treating fibers or yarns to provide a multicolored effect and more particularly to such methods for space-treating colorless fibers or yarns.

Multicolor goods are highly desirable in comparison to solid color goods for floor coverings, such as carpets, in that multicolor goods tend to hide dirt due to the varying colors and designs therein and also tend to increase aesthetic qualities of the carpets where it is subject to wear such as areas near doors and narrow passages. Furthermore, the patterns and many colors tend to render tuft and weaving defects inconspicuous to retain the appearance and increase the life of carpets. space-dyeing Many varying and aesthetically pleasing patterns and effects can be created with fibers that are partially dyed prior to work up or weaving of the web goods without pattern repetition. There are two conventional methods normally utilized to partially dye the fibers, which methods are referred to as the space-dyeing method and the space-treating method.

In the space-dyeing method the fibers are dyed in various colors by section without repetition of the pattern; and, thus, when the fibers are worked up or woven a myriad of configurations and patterns are available. One disadvantage in the space-dyeing method is that the pattern of goods manufactured from the fibers or yarn is inherent in the dye and thus it is required that large quantities of finished carpets be maintained in stock in many different shades in order to permit immediate delivery of a desired quantity of carpet in any color. Another disadvantage, in addition to the disadvantage of storage costs, is the enormous risk of fashion changes; that is, due to the great varying of fashions throughout the year if a large quantity of goods are prepared and fashion changes to accentuate other predominant colors, the stock merchandise becomes difficult if not impossible to sell.

In the space-treating method the fibers or yarns are treated with reagents prior to work up to change the dye affinity of the fibers. The treatment of different sections of the fibers with various'reagents cause varying chemical structural changes in the fibers such that in final dyeing of the finished goods the fibers will be differently colored. This effect may be accomplished with either one type of dye inone ormore patterns or with varying types of dye in a plurality of patterns. Thus, it may be seen that the space-treating method permits storage of treated but undyed goods thereby permitting a final dyeing according to a customer's desires andalso permitting changes in color combinations with fashion or style changes.

The major problem with the space-treating method is that the fibers must be treated with. appropriate reagents in a manner such that there is no repetition of differently reacting sectional areas of the fibers to thereby permit control of the patterns obtained in the final dyeing of the goods.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of treating sections of fibers or yarns with reagents in a nonrepetitious manner.

Another object of the present invention is to utilize a roller to treat a flat web in a space-treating method in order to effect the absence of repetition in the sectional treatment of fibers.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a space-treating method whereby multicolor web goods such as carpets may be stored in a treated but undyed state and subjected to final dyeing only after the color combinations and patterns desired by the customer. have been ascertained.

Some of the advantages of the present'invention are that the final pattern and colors of the web goods may be accurately controlled due to the method of treating the fibers, that an equal number of treated partial areas can be assured per unit of length of the fibers, that the final goods can have a color matching effect as well as color juxtaposition, that dyeing the goods by the piece is possible with acid, basic or dispersion dyes, and that the color differentiation during the dyeing of the piece may be constant to permit practical reproduction with the same variations in color shades from lot to lot.

The present invention is generally characterized in a method of space-treating fibers with reagents to change their dye affinity including forming the fibers into a flat web, treat ing the flat web with the reagents, and unraveling the flat web to separate the treated fibers whereby web goods may be formed from the treated fibers and dyed thereafter.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the preferred em bodiments as shown in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of apparatus for use with a method according to the present invention for one web of material.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 for use with a method according to the present invention wherein three webs of material in parallel are treated simultaneously.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a modification of the apparatus of FIG. 1 for use with a method according to the present invention wherein three webs of material obliquely disposed are treated simultaneously. FIG. 4 is a plan view of another modified form of apparatus wherein a web is treated intermittently in steps.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating various steps in the method of treating fibers.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Knitting and unraveling methods for space-dyeing fibers or yarn are well known in the art and will not be further explained herein; however, it is noted that by this method the colorless fibers are formed into a flat web and printed or dyed in many colors. After dyeing the flat web is unraveled so that sectional multicolor fibers are obtained. As previously mentioned, the space-dyeing method is disadvantageous in that the finished goods are not permitted to be dyed by the piece and final dyeing is prohibited.

The use of these well-known methods of knitting and unraveling will be utilized with the methods of the present invention; and, accordingly, a first step in the present invention is to form colorless fibers or yarns into a flat web for treatment. In FIG. 1 apparatus is illustrated for treating a single flat web' 14, preferably of a tubular knitted material, which is supported on a guide or conveyor 10 traveling in the direction shown by the arrows. A cylindrical printing rollerv 12 is disposed a small distance above the upper surface of support 10 and has a plurality of raised transfer fields disposed in irregular distribution on the periphery thereof. As examples, circular fields l6, oval fields 18, rectangular fields 20 and angular fields'2 2 are illustrated on the roller 12 of FIG. 1; however, it is clear that any configuration of transfer fields may be utilized with the present invention Roller 12 is disposed above support 10 such that the periphery and raised transfer fields will contact flat web 14 to treat the flat web with reagents applied to the periphery of roller 12 in any conventional manner. Each transfer field will be wetted continuously with the same reagents; and, thus, for instance as shown in FIG. 1, four different reagents may utilized to wet the four different raised transfer fields.

Roller 12 may be rotated at a speed synchronized with the movement of support 10 and web 14 disposed thereon in order to provide a smooth and even distribution of the varying reagents on the fibers of the web.

After the entire web has been treated with reagents it is then unraveled to provide individual fibers or yarns that are sectionally treated in a nonrepetitious manner. These individual fibers or yarns may then be worked up into piece goods for final dyeing in accordance with the desires ofthe ultimate customer.

The roller and support apparatus of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2 as utilized with three webs of material 24, 26 and 28 arranged in parallel on the support to be treated with the reagents applied to the raised transfer fields on the periphery of roller 12. The steps involved in space-treating fibers in webs 24, 26 and 28 are the same as those discussed with respect to FIG. 1 prior to arrangement of the webs support for treatment and after the webs are fully treated.

By utilizing three supports or conveyors with roller 12 three webs of material 30, 32 and 34 may be conveyed past roller 12 in an oblique fashion as shown in FIG. 3, and the steps in space-treating fibers in the webs the same as those discussed with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2 prior to arrangement of the webs on the supports and after the webs are fully treated The treated sectional areas of the fibers treated with the apparatus of FIG. 3 will occupy different positions on the webs to thereby increase the color and pattern effects obtainable with the fibers.

By using the rollers shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 the reagents may be continuously applied to the flat webs, and printing or treating of the flat webs can be accomplished by the Rouleaux or Vigoureux printing methods.

More specifically in the method of the present invention,

the fibers are fabricated into a flat web or webs of knitted material and are subjected to treatment with reagents, for example, by the use of roller 12 in F I68. 1, 2 and 3, or, as shown in FIG. 4, a moving conveyor 10' may be employed to carry a web 14' in a horizontal direction underneath a vertically movable printing pad 12' which is provided on its lower surface with a pattern similar to the pattern on roller 12 in FIGS. L3. This pad is raised and lowered in order to apply the reagent to selected areas 16'. In the intervals when the pad is raised the conveyor is moved in the direction of the arrow and stopped while the pad is lowered into contact with the web. After treatment of the web the knitted material is unraveled, and individual fibers retain sections treated with reagents so as to alter the affinity of parts of the fibers with respect to specified dyes so that at a later time the fibers may be dyed with other types of dyes.

In order to obtain a homogeneous color pattern in the final dyeing of the piece goods, an equal amount of treated surface sections must be present per unit of length of the surface of the flat web of knitted material to thus guarantee a uniform distribution of treated areas per unit of length of the fibers.

The fibers to be treated as well as the reagents to be used to treat the fibers are not critical to the present invention and any of the well-known fibers or yarns utilized in the industry along with reagents utilized therewith may be used with the present invention. As an example, a polyamide yarn may be treated with a reagent commercially available under the trade name Tanicor l-ISB distributed by Hoechst Dye Works. In this case the area of the knitted material treated with the reagent can only be dyed with basic and/or dispersion dyes.

Thus it may be seen that the method of the present invention permits the production of treated but undyed individual fibers or yarns in a nonrepetitious manner such that final web goods may be produced having colors or patterns as desired by the ultimate customer and such that the colors and patterns of these goods may be substantially identically reproduced from lot to lot.

In as much as the present invention is subject to many variations, modifications and changes in detail, it is intended that all matter described in the foregoing specification or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

For carrying out the inventive method all kinds of bindings for producing a web from fibers or yarns may be used if these bindings can be unraveled. The web can be knitted or woven or it may be tufted. Furthermore, a light/regular or regular/cross effect may be provided by the inventive method.

The term light/regular" is applied to a filament or yarn in which two different colors are applied along the length of the yarn, whereas regualr/cross" is applied to a yarn in which a sinlgle color extends across the entire width of the yarn and the de rneation between contrasting colors extends transversely with respect to the length thereof.

What is claimed is: g

l. A method of preparing undyed web goods capable of being piece dyed with a selected one of a plurality of dyestuffs to provide a selective plurality of apparently random color patterns, comprising the steps of forming untreated fibers into a flat web, treating the flat web with reagent to change the dye affinity of the fibers to impart a repetitive predetermined pattern of said reagents to said flat web, unraveling the flat web to provide fibers treated with said reagents in a apparently random but controlled manner, forming said treated fibers into uncolored web goods to provide a selective plurality of random color pattern choices, each of said color patterns as a whole being predictable in response to piece dyeing of said goods in a particular chosen dyestuff.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of forming the fibers into a flat web includes forming the fibers into a plurality of flat webs, and said step of treating the flat web with the reagents includes simultaneously treating the plurality of flat webs.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 wherein said step of simultaneously treating the plurality of flat webs includes disposing said plurality of flat webs in parallel during treating thereof.

4. The method as recited in claim 2 wherein said step of simultaneously treating the plurality of flat webs includes disposing said plurality of webs in oblique relation with each other during treating thereof.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of treating the flat web includes intermittently moving the flat web and applying the reagents during periods in which the flat web is stationary.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of treating the 'flat web includes continuously moving the flat web and intermittently applying the reagents to the flat web.

7. The method as recited in claim I wherein said step of treating the flat web includes applying the reagents to the flat web by a rotating cylinder as the flat web is moved past the cylinder.

8. The method as recited in claim 7 wherein the cylinder has raisedtransfer fields for applying the reagents to the flat web in sections.

9. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein said step of forming the fibers into a flat web includes forming the fibers into a plurality of fiat webs, and said step of treating the flat web includes applying the reagents in sections to the plurality of flat webs by the raised transfer fields of the rotating cylinder as the plurality of flat webs are moved past the cylinder in parallel.

10. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein said step of forming the fibers into a flat web includes forming the fibers into a plurality of flat webs, and said step of treating the flat web includes applying the reagents in sections to the plurality of flat webs by the raised transfer fields of the rotating cylinder as the plurality of flat webs are moved past the cylinder in oblique relation with each other. 

2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of forming the fibers into a flat web includes forming the fibers into a plurality of flat webs, and said step of treating the flat web with the reagents includes simultaneously treating the plurality of flat webs.
 3. The method as recited in claim 2 wherein said step of simultaneously treating the plurality of flat webs includes disposing said plurality of flat webs in parallel during treating thereof.
 4. The method as recited in claim 2 wherein said step of simultaneously treating the plurality of flat webs includes disposing said plurality of webs in oblique relation with each other during treating thereof.
 5. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of treating the flat web includes intermittently moving the flat web and applying the reagents during periods in which the flat web is stationary.
 6. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of treating the flat web includes continuously moving the flat web and intermittently applying the reagents to the flat web.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of treating the flat web includes applying the reagents to the flat web by a rotating cylinder as the flat web is moved past the cylinder.
 8. The method as recited in claim 7 wherein the cylinder has raised transfer fields for applying the reagents to the flat web in sections.
 9. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein said step of forming the fibers into a flat web includes formIng the fibers into a plurality of flat webs, and said step of treating the flat web includes applying the reagents in sections to the plurality of flat webs by the raised transfer fields of the rotating cylinder as the plurality of flat webs are moved past the cylinder in parallel.
 10. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein said step of forming the fibers into a flat web includes forming the fibers into a plurality of flat webs, and said step of treating the flat web includes applying the reagents in sections to the plurality of flat webs by the raised transfer fields of the rotating cylinder as the plurality of flat webs are moved past the cylinder in oblique relation with each other. 